It was a quiet night in the NHL with only four games. In the most important game for the New York Rangers, the news wasn’t great as the Ducks lost to Winnipeg.
There were three games that fans of the New York Rangers were concerned with. The results weren’t great for the Rangers lottery hopes, but were expected.
With the Blueshirts off until Saturday, Ranger fans may want to keep their eyes on some important games for Ranger prospects. Friday night, new signee Jake Elmer will lead his Lethbridge Hurricanes in the first round of the WHL playoffs against the Calgary Hitmen.
The OHL playoffs start Friday as well and Swiss defenseman Nico Gross will be on the blueline for the Oshawa Generals as they take on the Hamilton Bulldogs. Joey Keane and the London Knights take on the Windsor Spitfires in their first round matchup.
Ranger draftee Morgan Barron leads Cornell into the ECAC Championship Semi-Finals on Friday night as well. They take on Brown University and a win will get them into the ECAC title game on Saturday night in Lake Placid. A win Friday will also guarantee Cornell a spot in the NCAA tournament.
The Lottery Look
On the positive front, the Vancouver Canucks beat the Ottawa Senators 7-4 and now have 74 points, five more than the Rangers. Making up five points in nine games will be tough for it appears that Vancouver will join those teams that will definitely finish with a better record than New York.
Buffalo lost to Toronto 4-2, a result that was predictable. Toronto is making a late push to pass Buston in the standings and moved to within four points of the Bruins. It was a big win for the Leafs.
It would have been great for New York if Anaheim had beaten Winnipeg, but they were shut out by the Jets 3-0 as Winnipeg opened their lead in the Central Division to three points over Nashville.
The problem is although the Ducks and Rangers have the same number of points (69), the Ducks have only seven games left while the Rangers have nine. Sixth place is looking more and more likely for the Rangers.
The standings (Worst is first)
Teams GR W-L-OTL PT ROW
1. Ottawa 9 25-42-6 56 25
2. Los Angeles 10 25-39-8 58 23
3. Detroit 9 26-37-10 62 23
4. New Jersey 8 27-38-9 63 25
5. Anaheim 7 30-36-9 69 27
6. Rangers 9 28-32-13 69 22
7. Buffalo 9 31-33-9 71 26
8. Edmonton 9 32-34-7 71 29
9. Vancouver 8 32-32-10 74 28
10. Chicago 10 32-30-10 74 30
11. Colorado 9 32-29-12 76 31
12. Florida 9 32-29-12 76 29
13. Minnesota 8 34-31-9 77 33
14. Philadelphia 9 35-30-8 78 33
15. Montreal 9 38-28-7 83 36
Second East Wild Card Cut Line: 84 points
Second West Wild Card Cut Line: 78 points
Who to root for
It’s a big night in the NHL with 12 games on the schedule. The Rangers are off until Saturday and can only watch the scoreboard. There is only one game that really concerns the Blueshirts.
Blue Jackets @ Oilers – Columbus needs to win as they are only one point ahead of Montreal in the last wild card spot. Edmonton is only two points ahead of the Rangers in the standings. This is a winnable game for the Oilers and two points would help the Rangers a lot. However, the Oilers are coming off two straight road losses in which they gave up 13 goals, not great.
Flyers @ Blackhawks – Chicago sits five points above the Rangers. A win for the Hawks will pretty much put them out of reach of New York. The Flyers cannot afford to lose if they have any playoff hopes. This will be a tough game for Chicago to win.
Colorado and Florida are also in action, but they are both seven points ahead of the Rangers so the odds of them falling below the Blueshirts in the standings are minimal. Don’t forget, the Rangers take on a very motivated Toronto team on the road this Saturday.